Teaching & Preaching: Deacon Matt's homilies & podcasts

Join us in learning about two influential medieval heretics, John Wyclif from England and John Huss from Bohemia. Both these men not only criticized (justifiably) certain abuses of the Church hierarchy, but also denied the validity of the hierarchy and the authority of the Church.

Waldo (Valdes) was a rich merchant in Lyons, France, who gave up his wealth to dedicate himself to a life of radical poverty and preaching the gospel -- but without the approval of the Church. Waldo and his followers would go on to develop many theological errors that would put them at odds with Catholic doctrine. Vestiges of the Waldensian movement still survive today, including in North Carolina...

Spreading the good news of Jesus Christ, which is what it means to evangelize, is a duty that belongs to every one of us. In its document on missionary work, the Second Vatican Council says that “the work of evangelization is a basic duty of the People of God.” A homily preached at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC, on July 7, 2019 (14th Sunday of Ordinary Time).

The Cathars were a medieval heretical group that is often painted in a sympathetic light in revisionist histories as an "underdog" religious reform movement persecuted for their beliefs by the Catholic Church. But is there more to the story? Find out in this week's episode!

A homily preached on the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, June 28, 2019, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC. “Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, by its very nature, is a worship of the love with which God, through Jesus loved us, and at the same time, an exercise of our love by which we are related to God and to other men.” - Pope Pius XII

This week we look at the Iconoclast heresy which rocked the Eastern Church during the eighth and ninth centuries and contributed in part to the growing rift between the Eastern and Western halves of Christendom.

While the West was confronting Pelagianism, both Nestorianism & Monophysitisim rocked the eastern Church during the 5th century. Nestorianism taught that there were two persons in Christ, one human and one divine, while Monophysitism taught that Christ only had one divine nature. In confronting these heresies, the Church definitively formulated the doctrine of the hypostatic union, that Christ...

Pelagius was a British monk who taught that salvation was possible through upright moral living apart from God's grace. He denied the reality of original sin and the necessity of grace for salvation. His chief opponent was St. Augustine of Hippo, whose writings against Pelagius helped to develop Catholic teachings about original sin, grace and baptism.

This week we take a look at the first major Christological heresy, Arianism. Arius claimed that Christ was a creature made by God. He was the greatest of all God's creation, but he was a creature and therefore not himself God. In responding to this heresy at the Council of Nicea in 325 and the Council of Constantinople in 381, the Church would give us the Creed that we still use today to express a...

Preached at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC, on Sunday, June 2, 2019.

As we begin our tour of historic heresies, we begin with Gnosticism, which actually pre-dates Christianity in origin, but quickly became one of the chief heretical movements that the early Church had to contend with. Learn about this esoteric belief system, how it tried to corrupt Christian orthodoxy, and how some aspects of gnostic thought still exist today. CORRECTION: Towards the end of this po...

CCM "Summer School" is a 10-part podcast series dealing with Church history that will be released weekly over the summer. Each episode will look at a different heresy in the history of the Church, who the major players were, what the heresy taught, and how the Catholic Church responded. By learning about how the Church responds to heresies, we will learn about the development of doctrine and come...

Preached at the Catholic Campus Ministry Chapel of Our Lady of the Annunciation at Western Carolina University on May 5, 2019. "Jesus said to them, 'Come, have breakfast.' And none of the disciples dared to ask him, 'Who are you?' because they realized it was the Lord" (Jn 21:12).

Preached on May 5, 2019, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC.  " Jesus said to him... 'Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.' He said this signifying by what kind of death he wo...

Homily preached on Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion, April 14, 2019 (the anniversary of my ordination), at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC.  " The women who had come from Galilee with him followed behind, and when they had seen the tomb and the way in which his body was laid in it, they returned and prepared spices and perfumed oils. Then they rested on the sabbath...

Preached at the Lenten Penance Service at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Parish in Sylva, NC, on March 25, 2019, the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord.

A daily Mass homily preached on Friday, March 22, 2019 at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC. "In you, O Lord, I put my trust, let me never be put to shame; release me from the snare they have hidden for me, for you indeed are my refuge" (Ps 31).

Why do we perform acts of penance? An Ash Wednesday homily preached at the Catholic Campus Ministry chapel at Western Carolina University on March 6, 2019.

A homily for the 8th Sunday of Ordinary Time (C) preached at the 11:00am Mass at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC. " Why do you notice the splinter in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own? How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye,' when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye? You hypoc...

The definition of love and the path to discovering our true identity. A homily preached at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church on February 3, 2019.

God Made Manifest - A homily preached on the Epiphany of the Lord, January 6, 2019, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC.

Daily Mass homily for the Feast of St. Andrew the Apostle, preached on Nov. 30, 2018, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC.

A reflection on the purpose of time in our lives and how the Church marks different seasons of time in the liturgy.

The first greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength. Shouldn't loving God be enough? Why must we also love our neighbor? A homily on the two greatest commandments preached at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC, on Nov. 4, 2018.

A homily on marriage & right relationship between the sexes, preached at the 11:00am Mass on Sunday, Oct. 7, 2018, at St. Mary Mother of God Roman Catholic Church in Sylva, NC.